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Fulfilling the Promise of the Community College Co-editors Thomas Brown Margaret C. King Patricia Stanley Co-sponsored by National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition American Association of Community Colleges http://sc.edu/fye/publications/monograph/monographs/ms056.html

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Community colleges have gone from being the stepchild to being the golden child… Dr. Frank Chong, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges Whether providing vocational training, a pathway to transfer, or continuing professional development, community colleges are about enhancing human capital, increasing access, and creating social equity in the 21 st century. Jennifer Keup, Director National Resource Center

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Community colleges are being challenged to play a key role in the nation’s efforts to double the number of college graduates in the next 10 years. The first-year, indeed the first few weeks of the beginning semester, is a pivotal point in students’ academic careers. Brown, King, & Stanley, 2011

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Overview of the Monograph Guided by several overarching principles:  The learning college movement: how do you know what students are learning and achieving  Measures of students success should differ between two- and four-year colleges due to diversity of students  The multiple missions of community colleges make them unique in the nation and world

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Overview of the Monograph Describes the distinctive characteristics of first-year student experiences and challenges in community college based on research and effective practices.

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Arranged in three parts Part 1: establishes the context for examining the first-year experience in community colleges. Part 2: examines broad strategies for increasing student success including professional development and effective transfer initiatives. Part 3: addresses specific interventions to support first-year students learning and engagement and persistence, including transition programs, academic advising, and learning communities

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Chapter 1: The American Community College: From Access to Success Dr. George Boggs President Emeritus and Chief Executive Officer American Association of Community Colleges Former Superintendent/President Palomar College

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The Evolution of Colleges of Opportunity Since the founding of Joliet College in 1901, community colleges have evolved to become the most egalitarian of all higher education institutions— democracy’s colleges. They have evolved to include workforce, community, and developmental education and lifelong learning

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Distinctive Characteristics of Community Colleges Access, to Persistence, and Inclusion Community colleges provide access to higher education for those who plan to continue their education at the four-year level, as well as for those seeking career-technical education, and also for people who choose or are unable to attend a four year college

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Distinctive Characteristics of Community Colleges  Community Responsiveness and Innovation Responding to community needs is an integral part to the service mission. Innovation in partnering with local business and industry to design training programs to meet workforce needs. Encouraging entrepreneurship, hosting Small Business Development Centers or business incubators that nurture fledgling entrepreneurs.

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Distinctive Characteristics of Community Colleges  Small class-size and a focus on teaching. More on-to-one relationships between students and faculty. A primary focus on teaching and learning rather than an emphasis on research and publishing. Retain faculty with experience working in specific or highly specialized fields

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Chapter 2: Understanding Entering Community College Students: Learning from Student Voices Dr. Kay McClenney, Director of the Center for Community College Student Engagement University of Texas Austin

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Understanding data—whether quantitative or qualitative—about their students is only the first step for community colleges to strengthen entering student success. Ultimately, it takes a sustained commitment to engage in continuous inquiry to design first-year programs to enhance student success.

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Engagement Matters  For community college students who are frequently juggling multiple challenges and obligations, engagement is critical.  It may even the playing field, heightening chances of success for students who bring an assortment of risk factors to college with them.

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Purpose of the Chapter  Focus on the characteristics and earliest experience of community college students, as revealed through national data, student surveys, and focus groups Community College Survey of student Engagement (CCSSE) Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE)

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Typically, the data initially raise more questions than they answer...beginning the important campus process of building a culture of evidence and inquiry. McClenney, 2011

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Benchmarks of Effective Practice with Entering Students  Early connections  High expectations and aspirations  Clear academic plan and pathway  An effective track to college readiness  Engaged learning  Academic and social support network

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Benchmarks of Effective Practice with Entering Students  Early connections Asked why they persisted, students typically referred to a strong early connection to someone at the college…

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Benchmarks of Effective Practice with Entering Students  An effective track to college readiness One of the major challenges is the significant proportion of students who enter under-prepared for college level work. Therefore it is key to  assess academic skills  Appropriate course placement  Effective instructional and support strategies

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What needs to be done  Build a culture of evidence  Treat Each Entering Group of Students as a distinct Cohort  Commit to the discipline of routine student cohort tracking  Purposefully Design the Entering Student Experience  Require and take experience where the students are  Bring programs to scale

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At some point it behooves community college educators to overcome their reluctance to make mandatory experiences shown to enhance student learning, persistence, and attainment. McClenney, 2011

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Chapter 3: Enhancing First Year Success in the Community College: What Works in Student Retention Dr. Wesley Habley, Principal Associate Coordinator of American College Testing (ACT) Office of State Organizations

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 Review of community college retention to persistence to degree data from ACT’s Institutional Data questionnaire (1983 – 2009)  Results from ACT’s What Works in Student Retention Survey, Spring 2009  Three sets of recommendations for increasing student success

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What Works in Student Retention  40.7% of campuses have a retention coordinator  32.1% had goals for retention  Institutional respondents more likely to place responsibility for attrition on student characteristics rather than institutional factors

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Community colleges make winners out of ordinary people. Leslie Koltai, 1993 The majority of community college students are academically underprepared to achieve success. Schuetz & Bailey, 2008

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The mission of the community college presupposes that in order for first year students to succeed, they must be engaged with educators who believe in the capacity of all students to develop and learn. Rivas and Brown, 2011

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While faculty and staff may be committed to student success, most institutions have a fragmented approach to responding to student needs. Sperling, 2009 They are more likely to blame student attrition on students (WWISR, 2004, 2010)

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2. It offers a teaching and advising method that can increase student success in the first-year of college. 3. Makes recommendations for strategies to enable community colleges to actualize their mission and goals and fulfill their promise.

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Underprepared students are not ready for college-level work because of gaps in one or more of the following areas  General knowledge (e.g., history, lit, civics)  Skills areas (e.g., reading, writing, math)  Study skills and self management  Critical thinking and analysis  Technological competencies  Knowledge of behaviors leading to success  A vision supporting motivation & persistence  Willingness to take instructors advice Sally Rings, Pima Community College, 2000

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Many kinds of under-preparedness including:  Adult/re-entry students  First generation/low-SES students  First-year students  International students  Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students  Multicultural students  Multilingual/ESL students  Student-athletes  Students with disabilities  Veterans  Undecided/Exploratory students

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Multiple issues…  Adult/re-entry students AND ALSO…  First generation/low-SES students  First-year students  International students  Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students  Multicultural students  Multilingual/ESL students  Student-athletes  Students with disabilities  Veterans  Undecided/Exploratory students

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From a psychological perspective, under-preparedness may stem from low-self efficacy, or the sense that one has little control over thoughts, feeling, and actions conducive to success. Bandura, 1985

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Community colleges must seek to systematically enhance and expand the ways they provide professional development in order to improve the first-year learning experience. McPhail & Brown, 2011

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Students rely on faculty and staff to inform them about what is required to be academically successful. Faculty and staff significantly influence students decision to persist or drop out and suggests that colleges must teach faculty and staff how to improve the quality of their interactions with students. Patricia Farrell, 2009

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Many campuses are ill-prepared to support first year and other students to achieve success due to a lack of pre- service and in-service professional development, as well as training efforts that are sporadic, or that focus only on full time faculty. Brown & McPhail, 2011

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Linking Professional Development to Student Success  Most community college faculty receive little or no training to deal with increasing numbers of underprepared students. Carnegie Foundation 2008  Less than 1/3 of community college faculty indicate they had adequate preparation and training before beginning their work as advisors Brown 2009

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Community colleges must examine the quality and scope of their current professional development efforts and make on-going professional development part of the job description for all part-time and fulltime campus faculty and staff. McPhail & Costner, 2004; Carnegie, 2008

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This chapter expands the lens of professional development to view it as essential to first-year student success It describes the conceptual, relational, and informational elements that constitute comprehensive professional development.  Conceptual: what educators must understand  Informational: what educators must know  Relational: What educators must do

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This chapter expands the lens of professional development to view it as essential to first-year student success It suggests standards for developing educators to employ strategies and techniques that can lead to increased student success in the first-year and beyond.  Context Standards: aligned with mission, vision, core values, etc.  Process Standards: needs assessments, targeted programs, multiple formats, use data to determine priorities

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Purpose of this chapter  Explores challenges and opportunities for community colleges in designing and implementing effective transition programs.  Examines the most frequently used types of transition programs  Shares institutional case studies of successful initiatives at LaGuardia Community College (NY) and Palo Alto College (TX)

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Challenges to Effective Transition Programming  Large number of commuter students  Early departure of first-year students  Diversity of students with differing needs  Determining the specific mix of cost- effective transition programs

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Extended orientation programs  The majority of community colleges offer extended orientation courses, but only 20% require such classes  Research demonstrates improved grades and a higher percentage of persistence for students participating in extended programs.

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Case Studies  The transition to college life at LaGuardia Community College  Building a Successful First-Year Seminar at Palo Alto College

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Lessons learned and recommendations  In order for first-year programming to be sustained, they must be considered essential and be supported by senior administrators.  Programs should be required  Pilot “boutique” programs must be scaled up to enhance overall retention and success  Programs often have effects beyond their original intent

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Chapter 8: Academic Advising Models to Support Student Success Dr. Peggy King, Associate Dean Emerita Schenectady County Community College Rusty Fox, Vice-President for Student Development Tarrant County Community College

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 90% of students say that academic advising is important yet only 56% use this service sometimes or often  35% rarely or never use academic advising services (CCSSE)  It is important to help students understand the importance of academic advising

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Chapter 9: Career Development: An Essential Component of First-Year Experience and Student Transition Dr. Patricia Stanley First Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges President, Frederick Community College

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Career Development is life long, as is community college education…

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The community college as the Nexus of career pathways  Experiential Education and Career Pathways  Adult Education and Career Pathways  Baccalaureate Programs in the Two- year College  Career Development Services Online  The impact of Career Pathways Initiatives on Student Retention

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Programs that Work  Quinsigamond Community College  Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College

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 Regardless of how we choose to define success in college – whether it is a statistical measure of persistence and retention, or gains in critical thinking and writing abilities that show up as positive outcomes on student learning assessments, we now have compelling evidence to suggest that creating learning communities on campuses leads to greater student success in college (Shapiro and Levine, 1999).

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A Rationale for Learning Communities  Organize students and faculty into smaller groups  Encourage integration of the curriculum  Help students establish academic and social networks

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All along the educational pipeline, students are being lost in STEM fields. This is particularly true for women and students from historically underrepresented groups. Armstrong, 2011

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National statistics reveal that community colleges provide access for all students, especially those who have been underrepresented in STEM fields. We look for community colleges to play a significant and unique role in STEM education. “ Role of Community Colleges in STEM Education” Hoffman, Starobin, Santos-Lanaan, & Rivera, 2010

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This chapter  Examines the role of community colleges in preparing students for STEM careers  Consider the barriers to participation in STEM fields  Identifies effective strategies for increasing the pool and success rates for STEM students  Highlights some exemplary programs

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Role of community colleges in preparing students for STEM careers  Contextual learning  Experiential education  College readiness programs  On-going professional development for instructors in STEM  Mentoring programs  Opportunities for collaborative learning

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Successful program characteristics  History of working collaboratively across programs, academic disciplines and services  Well designed learning communities  Ability to make data-driven decisions and plan strategically

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Summary and Recommendations Editors and community college leaders who support first-year programs at their colleges  Create intentionally designed comprehensive programs  Cultivate support from campus leadership  Establish relevant benchmarks for success  Build a culture of evidence

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2011-2012 Webinar Series Increasing First-Year Student Engagement, Learning and Success in Community Colleges Understanding Entering Community College Students ~ 10/20 What Works in Student Retention in Community Colleges ~ 11/3 Building Paths to First Year Student Success: Planning and Implementing Effective Student Transitions Programs ~ 11/17 Academic Advising: A Critical Link to First-Year Student Success ~ 12/1 Registration http://www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p/488.htm http://www.innovativeeducators.org/product_p/488.htm